


This Is The Part Of Me That You're Never Gonna Ever Take Away From Me

by ChaoticLesbian



Series: Criminal Minds [3]
Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: Acceptance, Bisexual Character, Coming Out, Dad Hotch, F/F, First Kiss, Fluff, Found Family, LGBTQ Character, Lesbian Character, Mom Rossi, Pansexual Character, Pride, Pride Parades, Self-Acceptance, Then They All Go To A Pride Parade, This Is Basically Just A Fluff Fic Of Emily Coming Out To The Team
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-21
Updated: 2020-11-21
Packaged: 2021-03-10 03:15:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,871
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27656702
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChaoticLesbian/pseuds/ChaoticLesbian
Summary: Emily is fearful of coming out to the team due to past rejection but soon learns that family stick by each other.
Relationships: Aaron Hotchner & Emily Prentiss, Derek Morgan & Emily Prentiss, Emily Prentiss & David Rossi, Emily Prentiss & Spencer Reid, Emily Prentiss & The BAU Team, Jennifer "JJ" Jareau & Emily Prentiss, Jennifer "JJ" Jareau/Emily Prentiss, Penelope Garcia & Emily Prentiss
Series: Criminal Minds [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2008030
Comments: 1
Kudos: 78





	This Is The Part Of Me That You're Never Gonna Ever Take Away From Me

"I'm Gay." The words felt like they were suffocating her. It was a part of her life that she had shoved so deep down. She had once told her best friend in middle school, only to be called every bad word she knew at that age. Her friends ditched her and she became alone, disgusted of that one part about her. So she had hidden it. Ignored it, forced herself to like people of the opposite gender. She took a look at herself in the mirror. It had been years since she'd said the words, since she'd promised herself she would never let anyone find out that part about her. Taking one last deep breath she grabbed her coat and walked out to her car, deciding to take the longer way to the cabin, giving herself time to talk herself out of it. The whole team were taking a trip there to unwind, get away from the world, from work. Hotch was bringing his wife while Jack stayed with his mom, time together that they'd missed out on he'd told them.

She took the keys out of the ignition and sat there for a couple minutes, feeling the panic steadily rising. Noticing JJ walking up to the door, she got out the car and joined her.  
"Hey Em!" JJ greeted with a soft smile and suddenly all of Emily's worry seemed to fade away to background noise in the back of her head.  
"JJ, how was your drive up here."  
"It was awful, there was so much traffic. Honestly." Emily chuckled to herself and the two women walked inside, Rossi, Spencer and Garcia already having arrived. Greetings didn't take long and once Morgan and the Hotchners arrived, wine was opened and talk flowed easily. Emily took a look around, savouring the moment. People were smiling, laughing. A warmth spread through her body. These people were like her family. The happiness was quickly wiped out by fear. What if they hated her after this. JJ seemed to notice the subtle change in her expression, she always did. She tapped the other agents voice lightly and lowered her voice.  
"You okay Em?" Was she okay?  
"Kind of." JJ gave her a confused look but before she could ask what she meant, Emily cleared her throat getting everyone's attention. The panic increased ten fold and her breathing started to pick up.  
"Emily?" Spencer asked, a worried look on his face."  
"I have something to tell you guys and i'm worried about how you'll take it." Emily's once confident attitude was gone and the worry so evident on her face quickly sobered everyone.  
"Em?" JJ asked from behind her.  
"I once told someone this when I was in middle school. I was scared and I needed someone to support me. So I told the girl I considered my best friend at the time. My eleven year old self had never heard the amount of words that were thrown at me before. Before I knew it, the rumour had spread around not only our grade, but the ones above. I was an outcast, a freak. My parents were so disappointed in me. After we moved again, I swore to myself that I would never tell anyone. That I would be 'normal'." She took a breath before continuing, tears pooled in her eyes. She was ready and prepared for rejection. She hadn't unpacked in case they wanted her to leave.  
"I. I'm gay." To say she was unprepared for what happened next was an understatement. JJ slid down on the floor next to her and wrapped her arms around her, Spencer did the same on her other side. Hotch, Haley and Morgan smiled and Rossi walked off, coming back in a moment later with a small pride flag.  
"I had an inclination and wanted to be prepared for if you told us." He said with a small smile. Emily couldn't stop the tears that started streaming down her face.  
"You guys don't hate me?"  
"We could never hate you." JJ whispered, pulling her closer.  
"On the contrary, we're proud of you Prentiss." Hotch said with a smile.  
"You're still you, this doesn't change that." Morgan added on.  
"It takes alot of gut to tell people about something that you've been rejected for." Garcia said with a smile and Emily nodded, leaning into the hug from the two closest to her. The warmth she had before, returning. These people really were her family. They loved her and they didn't care about whether she liked girls or not. They just cared that she was okay.

The next week, the entire team woke up and came to the office early. They had all gathered in Hotch's office.  
"So pride is next weekend right?" Rossi asked from the sofa.  
"Yep, I managed to convince them to let us decorate and take in the SUV's. They actually agreed that showing the FBI's support with the community was a step in the right direction." Hotch said with a smile. It had been JJ's plan. She'd brought it up after cuddling with Em until she'd fallen asleep. Her heart had broke when the girl confided in her, saying she was shocked she was comfortable around her after what she'd told them. After reassuring her that nothing had changed and they were still close as ever, Emily had fallen asleep peacefully.  
"Rossi, did you get the pride flags?" Garcia asked with a grin and the older man nodded handing them out. Garcia and Morgan had pansexual flags while both JJ and Reid had Bisexual ones.  
"I have a Lesbian one for Emily and two straight ally ones for me and Hotch." Once all plans were set in motion, moral seemed to lift. The days leading up to the parade, everyone was excited and Emily couldn't for the life of her figure out why her teammates were in such high spirits. It wasn't till she woke up on the morning of the parade from a message from JJ just reading:  
"Dress up, we're going out for the day, also, wear rainbows. :) " It hadn't taken too long at all to dress in what she wanted. She had on a knee length red off the shoulder dress, rainbow vans, her makeup rainbow too. She put on a rainbow flower crown, grabbed her jacket and headed out towards the BAU parking lot where she'd promised to meet the others. Stepping out of the car, she was immediately met with the whoops and whistles of her team.  
"Looking good Prentiss!" Morgan called over with a smile and Garcia let out another whistle. They had all dressed for the occasion too. Garcia was in a floral dress, decked out in colours of the pan flag. Spencer had a cropped hoodie on with the colours of the Bi flag, covering all the seams. Morgan was also in a crop top with a Pan coloured flower crown on his head. Hotch and Rossi were both in jeans with shirts on. Rossi's said Proud mom in rainbow and Hotch's said proud dad. JJ's outfit took Emily's breath away. Her hair was in space buns and she was wearing a flower crown identical to Emily's. She had on denim shorts, the pockets painted with the bi colours, she had a fishnet top on, a rainbow bra underneath.  
"Holy shit, y'all look amazing but i think Hotch and Rossi win." She said with a laugh.  
"We found them the other day and thought that since you all joke about us being the parents of the team, we'd take you seriously." Hotch said with a grin. Emily let her eyes wander over to the SUV, it had rainbow striped painted across in and the word Pride in bold letters.  
"We've been asked to do a paper when we get back, talking about acceptance within our team." JJ said with a soft smile.  
"Thats awesome." While the others got their last few things ready JJ pulled Emily to the side.  
"I got you a small to remember this." JJ said shyly, pulling the small box out of her pocket. Emily opened it and her free hand flew to her mouth. Inside was a necklace, a small wire heart sat at the base, Jewels sat woven on one side in the order of the pride flag. Emily grinned and pulled JJ into a tight hug.  
"I'd love it." JJ smiled back taking Emilys hand after helping her put it on and leading her into the SUV. Hotch and Rossi took the front seats, Spencer, Morgan and Garcia took the middle three while Emily and JJ had climbed their way into the back. The car ride their was pure happiness, the windows and sunroof were open wide and Hotch blasted music the whole way there. Emily turned to JJ when she knew no one was paying attention.  
"You're Bi?" She asked with a smile.  
"Yep, me and Spence are. Morgan and Garcia are Pan." Emily sighed freely and let her hand intertwine with JJ's again. It felt like pure electricity running up her arm and through her body and for the first time in years, she let herself fall. 

Once they arrived, the flags had been handed out, Emily had hugged JJ tight when she gave it to her. They wore them proudly. The guys and Garcia tied it like a cape while JJ and Emily wrapped an arm behind each other's backs, letting their flags combine. Time passed full of loud music, pure happiness and acceptance, oh and drink, quite a lot of drink. Everyone gathered by the concert stage, they had their flags held proudly, Rossi and Hotch had offered to take their bags of all the things they'd got saying that their kids should enjoy the day. It had got a lough out of all of them. The music changed to I want to be your girlfriend and while everyone danced around them. Emily felt herself trapped under JJ's soft gaze. She turned to face the other agent, gently placing her hand on the side of her face, letting herself get lost in her eyes. They were like the deepest oceans that brought a sense of calm to anyone that was blessed to look for long enough. The world seemed to fall away around them, leaving just the two of them. JJ mirrored Emily, letting her hand rest on her cheek before slowly leaning in. Emily kissed her slowly at first, giving her the chance to pull away if she wanted to, but JJ just clung to her tighter. Emily deepened it, taking pleasure in the way JJ's body seemed to mold perfectly into her own, the way Emily could feel her smiling against her lips. She felt on top of the world and for the first time in so many years, she felt free and happy. They pulled away, both needing air.  
"That was-"  
"Yeah-"  
"I like you Emily, alot." Emily grinned.  
"As it turns out, I quite like you too" JJ laughed.  
"Stop being cocky and kiss me again."  
"Make me." So she did, tangling her hand into Emily's hair, she pulled them both back together, letting themselves drown blissfuly in their happiness and love.


End file.
